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Thanks for posting these useful videos! Your comments echo EXACTLY what I was told yesterday by Jaime at Beach Autosound in Huntington Beach. Basically he said he'd sell me the DICE if I insisted, but that we'd both be happier if I went with the USA-Spec.

My only concern is if my 2001 stock HU will integrate as seemlessly as with your 2003. I've heard things become much easier when dealing with 2002+. The packaging I looked at for the PA12-BMW showed specs for a PA11-BMW; not sure what to make of that.

My goal is to use the existing system, and to control the iPhone without having to use the phone's screen.

On steve's recommendation awhile back, I have the USA-Spec in my 01 M3 with stock headunit and HK package. Works perfectly and I haven't had any problems with it. There are two different models based on what type of HU you have, but if I remember correctly, crutchfield stocks both and if you input your car model, they will tell you which one is right. Look for any crutchfield coupons floating around on the internet too; I found a 20% off one when I bought mine!

On steve's recommendation awhile back, I have the USA-Spec in my 01 M3 with stock headunit and HK package. Works perfectly and I haven't had any problems with it. There are two different models based on what type of HU you have, but if I remember correctly, crutchfield stocks both and if you input your car model, they will tell you which one is right. Look for any crutchfield coupons floating around on the internet too; I found a 20% off one when I bought mine!

Thank you for confirming that it works with a pre-2003 HU - I wasn't sure.

I have iphone and Dice Silverline Pro. took me a while to figure out which dip switches to enable and once I got everything set up it has been working perfectly. I understand your complaint about the DICE not working the way it should, I have read many many many posts about it, but right now mine is working perfectly and when it does work perfectly the setup is 100x better than this set up you are demonstrating. What happens if you have more than 3 playlists or whatever? I have about 50 playlists (my favorite albums) and when I'm in a playlist I prefer the track title to come up before the artist name scrolls, this seems redundant to show the artist first every time. also it takes you a VERY long time for the text to start scrolling. also I am able to select tracks from both the steering wheel, radio face, or the iphone itself without changing modes and without being locked out or losing text ever. I dont see any advantage of this unit over a DICE silverline pro if they are both functioning as intended, in fact this seems way worse and there arent enough people out there using it to prove that it wont run into the same reliability issues that the DICE does over time. The market is saturated with DICE owners and you only hear about the people with problems, not the people that it is working perfectly for.

I have iphone and Dice Silverline Pro. took me a while to figure out which dip switches to enable and once I got everything set up it has been working perfectly. I understand your complaint about the DICE not working the way it should, I have read many many many posts about it, but right now mine is working perfectly and when it does work perfectly the setup is 100x better than this set up you are demonstrating. What happens if you have more than 3 playlists or whatever? I have about 50 playlists (my favorite albums) and when I'm in a playlist I prefer the track title to come up before the artist name scrolls, this seems redundant to show the artist first every time. also it takes you a VERY long time for the text to start scrolling. also I am able to select tracks from both the steering wheel, radio face, or the iphone itself without changing modes and without being locked out or losing text ever. I dont see any advantage of this unit over a DICE silverline pro if they are both functioning as intended, in fact this seems way worse and there arent enough people out there using it to prove that it wont run into the same reliability issues that the DICE does over time. The market is saturated with DICE owners and you only hear about the people with problems, not the people that it is working perfectly for.

I agree about Dice having a greater market share & therefore more negative experiences. Its one of the reasons that I used it for four months before posting my opinions. Hopefully talking about it will make more people aware of USA-Spec & shift the numbers. Time will tell.

Re: the number of playlist. If you navigate 50 playlists on a Dice you must be talented. The thing is a nightmare to use if you go over 6 or 7.

I also agree that the text does not appear as quick as with the Dice when changing songs. But as I qualified, if you are one of the many people inflicted with stuck text on the Dice, the USA-Spec works.

Last note, for the last few months I had the Dice in my car it did work reasonable well, then one day ----------------- nothing!

Go with GROM Audio... Dice has been advertised on this forum like crazy, and Grom is gaining customers through word of mouth by people who bought them and are extreemly happy..

I'm one of those customers, gromaudio.com.. you wont be disappointed. Also Grom Audio does software updates almost everymonth. The minor issues i had when i bought it were all fixed with a simple software update.

Looks like a pretty good device. I don't like that you are limited to only 4 playlists or that there is no play by album/artist mode. The only issue that I've had with my DICE is that annoying whine/interference that comes through in the speakers. If they could fix that it would be perfect, at least IMO.

Go with GROM Audio... Dice has been advertised on this forum like crazy, and Grom is gaining customers through word of mouth by people who bought them and are extreemly happy..

I'm one of those customers, gromaudio.com.. you wont be disappointed. Also Grom Audio does software updates almost everymonth. The minor issues i had when i bought it were all fixed with a simple software update.

One of the guys @ bavsound told me not to touch the GROM unit. That's cool that you can upgrade teh firmware.

I've been using Ice-Link for several years now on 2 E46s and have had 0 problems; it is very flexible. Ice-Link has been discontinued a couple of years ago. Never experienced DICE or USA-spec with tons.

Looks like a pretty good device. I don't like that you are limited to only 4 playlists or that there is no play by album/artist mode. The only issue that I've had with my DICE is that annoying whine/interference that comes through in the speakers. If they could fix that it would be perfect, at least IMO.

does it have an aux input as well?

Oh, I didn't talk about that in my video because I don't use it but yes it has an aux in - not a 1/8" like the Dice, it has two RCA plugs like on the back of a stereo.

Here's the part you are not going to like though. I am 99% positive that you loose a playlist button when you select that option through the switches on the USA-Spec module.

I've been using Ice-Link for several years now on 2 E46s and have had 0 problems; it is very flexible. Ice-Link has been discontinued a couple of years ago. Never experienced DICE or USA-spec with tons.

The Ice-Link is the Dension product, isn't it? I was looking for more info on that device when I stumbled on the USA-Spec.

Don't just look at the USA-Spec! Look at the Peripheral iPod interface kit. It's what I have in my car and I LOVE it. I can actually browse through the iPod like it's meant to be browsed, without dealing with the head unit. And I can switch songs and what not from the head unit/steering wheel if I want to.